The long term goals of this research is to understand the molecular events involved in the conversion of genetic information into functional proteins and its regulation in the rat ventral prostate. We then hope to develop methods for blocking or altering the processes associated with the abnormal growth of the prostate. Our specific aims in the next five years will be to: 1. An oligonucleotide, whose nucleotide sequence will be deduced from the known amino acid sequence of the prostate specific spermine binding protein, will be chemically synthesized and used as a specific probe in detection and characterization of the mRNA specific for the protein. 2. This oligonucleotide will also be used as a specific hybridization probe to determine and compare the levels of mRNA for spermine binding protein within normal and malignant prostate tissue with animals under different hormonal status. 3. Selective inhibition of the in vivo translation of the spermine binding protein will be studied using oligodeoxynucleotide analogues that are complementary to a portion of mRNA for specific prostate proteins and can enter the prostate cells.